PICO RIVERA – The city took another step in its plan to renovate four parks by selecting a consultant for the job.

The City Council chose URS Corporation in Los Angeles for the $20 million project, which will focus on Rivera Park at 9530 Shade Lane, Pico Park at 9528 Beverly Blvd., Smith Park at 6016 Rosemead Blvd. and Rio Vista Park at 8751 Coffman Pico Road.

The money for the renovation comes from municipal bonds the city sold last year.

URS Corporation gave the city a price of $1,135,744, which was $200,000 cheaper than the other company in the running, C.W. Driver. The contract hasn’t yet been approved.

Representatives from the two companies talked about projects they’ve done and answered questions from the council at an Oct. 12 meeting.

Staff solicited proposals again for a consultant at the direction of the Parks Master Plan Ad Hoc Committee in July. Ten companies responded. It was narrowed to three and then two. City staff had recommended going with C.W. Driver.

Councilman David Armenta said the 10 companies that bid are capable of doing the job.

“But this is taxpayer money. If we can save $100,000, $200,000 or $800,000, we can put that for another project,” he said.

He also said URS has been involved in local projects.

Councilman Gustavo Camacho said he likes both companies but the council has to be mindful of taxpayer money.

As the construction management firm for the project, URS’ duties will include reaching out to local subcontractors, reviewing construction plans, overseeing the contracts, conducting public outreach to areas affected by the construction, preparing the construction schedule and addressing construction issues, according to Ralph Aranda, director of Parks and Recreation.

The company will also handle all the bidding, engineering and supervision of subcontractors.

He said the city will hire the subcontractors.

The four parks slated for renovation are more than 50 years old, Aranda said.

During the renovation, he said the park grounds will be closed but the buildings there will still be accessible.

He said there will be community meetings before renovations happen at each site.

Rivera Park is first on the list to be renovated. Aranda estimated construction to start in March or April 2011.

The park currently has a multipurpose auditorium, four youth baseball diamonds, football fields, handball courts and picnic areas.

Under the project, the proposed additions include a covered grandstand with a concession building, restrooms and bleachers. There will also be four redesigned baseball fields, a lighted football field, new lighting on the existing handball courts, new picnic areas, a new scoreboard and a new play area for children with playground equipment.

Anna Gonzalez is president of the Pico Rivera Dons and Donnas, which use the football field at the park. The group has about 300 children ages 6 to 14. She said they will have use of an electronic scoreboard, a stadium, bleachers, restrooms and their own snack bar after the park is renovated.

“We’re just so excited about it. We didn’t think it could be done. It’s like a dream come true for us,” Gonzalez said.

Ruby Gonzales started working for the company in 1991. Since then she has written about cities, school districts, crimes, cold cases, courts, the San Gabriel River, local history, anime, insects, forensics and the early days of the Internet when people still referred to it as the "information superhighway." Her current beat includes breaking news, crimes and courts for the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Pasadena Star News and Whittier Daily News. When not in crime reporter mode, she frequents the remaining bookstores in the San Gabriel Valley, haunts craft stores or gets dragged to eateries by a relative who is a foodie.